2, Tor Hill Road

This is a house and shop dating from the 1840s, located on a corner plot at the junction of Tor Hill Road and Factory Row in Torquay. The building is an unusual survival of an early shop in the town centre.

The building is two storeys and an attic. The front to Tor Hill Road has a moulded projecting cornice below a parapet. A flat-topped attic gable is on the left return, facing Factory Row. The front to Tor Hill Road has three windows, including the corner shop doorway. There is a platband and eaves band. The corner shop has a half-glazed door with a deep overlight and glazed panels to either side. To the right of the doorway is a paired shop window divided by pilasters with sunk panels and moulded brackets. The right-hand window has been reduced in size, and the left-hand window has a transom. A fascia is recessed over the doorway, shop windows, and a plain window facing Factory Row. The shop name is displayed in raised lettering from the late 19th or early 20th century on the fascia, however a "good C19 chemist's lamp" that was noted in the 1975 listing description is now missing, although its bracket remains over the shop doorway. A blue tile road sign with white letters is present on the Tor Hill Road elevation; a similar sign on the Factory Row elevation reads "To Abbey Road by Albert Steps". The left return of the main block has three bays, divided by four pilasters with capitals below the eaves band. It features a flat-topped gable above the cornice with a two-light attic casement flanked by chimney shafts. A lower-roofed block extends to the left, with a gabled roof at the left end. This block has axial and left-end stacks, and a front with six panels and three ground-floor eight-pane windows (C20). The first floor has two sashes: the right-hand window likely has original 3 over 6-pane glazing, while the left-hand one is a two-pane reglazed sash. The interior of the building has not been inspected, but may contain features of interest.